Global Horse Culture

Gaited Mule in Brazil

This is a short video of a gaited mule on a country road in Brazil, in São Paulo state. This is a show-quality mule, out for a training ride. Mules are quite popular in Brazil, and this one is bred from a Mangalarga Marchador horse (one of the most popular breeds in Brazil).

Folk Remedy

Nino, a horseman in a rural area of the state of São Paulo, shows me a string of berries that he uses to treat his livestock. He described it as something to give the animals - dogs, horses, cattle - when they "get thin." He broke open a berry and showed me the many small black seeds inside. The berries were not juicy, but more like a fresh hot pepper in texture and moisture level. He said they taste very bitter, so the animals don't like to eat them, but it "cures" them of "getting thin." It's my guess that the berries help expel or kill intestinal parasites.

I haven't been able to identify the fruits. If anyone knows what they are, please let me know!

Update - it's a plant known as Fruta-de-Gentio, or Fruta-de-Caiapó, latin name Cayaponia espelina, noted as a purgative.

Do-it-yourself tack

This horse in rural Brazil, in a mountainous area inland from São Paulo,  is wearing tack that is about ninety-percent handmade. Store-bought tack is not affordable to many rural folks, and many of them rely on horses or mules for getting around, so it is not uncommon for people to make their own tack from whatever parts and pieces they can find. Nino, the gentleman who owns this horse, made nearly everything you see himself. Like others in the area, he even does his own shoeing and doctoring (more on that later).

I thought the ornament on the saddle bags was a nice touch, and the front string girth - made from collected strands of green baling twine - was a creative solution (it has now been replaced by a US-made Western-style wool string girth, which I sent to him as thanks for showing us his horses and farm). The stirrups are also interesting. I didn't get a close-up photo, but they are originally English-style "safety stirrups" given to him by a visitor; he then used a decorative brass chain to fill in the gap where the rubber band had been. 

The bridle, which you can see more closely below, combines hair-on cowhide, brass rings from old parade gear, braided rawhide and manufactured cotton rope.

Horses at Sunset

This is just a bit of fun, from some video I shot in Brazil. These are Lusitano colts, running loose in large pastures until they grow up and begin training. They are not handled, really, though the trainer you hear whistling spends time with them every day. These colts were so curious and delightful to spend time with!

Mangalarga Marchador

The Equinest has a great post about the Mangalarga Marchador, a popular gaited breed in Brazil. Check it out!

Vaqueiros...no, not vaqueros!

In the northeastern part of Brazil, encompassing several states, is a harsh, dry, poor area generally called the Northeast (Nordeste). There is a specific cowboy culture there, distinctive and unique, and completely different from the gaucho cowboy culture of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. In the northeast, the cowboys are called vaqueiros - a Portuguese derivation of the Spanish word vaquero (from the Spanish word "vaca," meaning "cow"). The land has large areas of scrubby, thorny vegetation, called Caatinga, which has affected some details of the vaquiero style.

They are known for their distinctive style of leather clothing, necessary for riding in the thorny scrub. Pants, chest-protectors, jackets with very long sleeves, and special hand guards are worn, and horses sometimes wear chest-covering breast-plates, too. The hats and jackets are often decorated with intricate cutwork and stitching, as you can see a bit in this photo by Alexandre Severo (see more photos like this on Alexandre's flickr stream):

The vaqueiros are known for being proud and tough, and their horse-handling methods are said to be in the same vein. In this picture and this one, you can see the cavesson that is used in addition to the curb rein. It is usually made of metal, and sometimes serrated to make a rough edge against the top of the horse's nose. I heard about a good horseman in the São Paulo area (about whom I will post more later), who is making some efforts to offer workshops in the remote Northeast to educate the vaqueiros about gentler methods of horse training and riding. He said they tend to roll their eyes at the idea of something so "gay" as gentle horsemanship, but some are starting to listen.

Because of the heavy underbrush the vaqueiros work in, they do not use lassoes to catch cows, but have developed a method of running them down and grabbing them by the tail. This is not done just for work, but also as a sport, as can be seen in these action photos taken by Hugo Macedo. A variant of this type of cow catching has evolved into an arena sport, held at local rodeos, in which two riders gallop alongside a cow, one of them keeping the cow in a straight line, the other grabbing its tail and flipping it over onto its back before reaching the finish line. Tough sports from a tough part of the world.

Here is another flickr set that includes this super photo of a vaqueiro dressed up in finer tack and apparel - for a festival or parade, perhaps. This horse has the leather chest protector I mentioned. The photo set has other great photos showing tack, apparel and horses.

The horse of the vaqueiro is the Nordestino. Often gaited, having incredible stamina and resistance to heat and thirst. There used to be a breed organization, but last I heard it has become defunct, so the breed is not registered or regulated in any way. Here is a sweet-faced gray one.

Feria de Mataderos

Martina V. gets two posts today, because her photo set showing the Argentine festival "Feria de Mataderos" in Buenos Aires is super. She does excellent photography, and in this set you get to see lots of very ornate tack on horses and ponies, and some gauchos playing the stick-in-a-ring game that is found throughout Latin America. (Typically a tiny ring is hung on a cord, and you have to gallop under it on your horse while snagging the ring with a small stick about the size of a pencil.)

Anyway, enjoy more photos of horses!

The Tropilla

This flickr photoset by Martina V. illustrates the fascinating tradition of the tropilla from Argentina. In this case the tropillas are being shown at competition, where having a very fine and consistent group of horses and being able to show them off well is key. The photos are accompanied by a great description of the way the horses are trained and selected. I won't give away more details - go take a look!

Horses in the Big City

It's a surprise to me to find a big equestrian facility in the middle of a megacity. In São Paulo, Brazil, truly an enormous and congested city, the surprise is the Clube Hípico de Santo Amaro (the Santo Amaro Equestrian Club). In the midst of skyscrapers and heavy traffic, an old horse farm has been preserved, shut off from the bustle and chaos by high walls. It is an island of tranquility.

The facilities are enormous for an urban area: a perimeter trail through the woods offers a place for relaxing hacks. There are multiple indoor schooling areas and outdoor rings. Old stables, built around courtyards in the European style, house hundreds of horses. In this snapshot, a Brazilian Sport Horse rests after his bath in one of many cozy stable yards:

The dressage area is its own complex, with warmup rings, more stables, and several beautiful show rings. Seating areas are covered, to allow comfortable shaded viewing. At this schooling show there were judges in all three of the small buildings at the far end of the sand ring.

A small bar and restaurant serves the dressage area, so you can enjoy refreshments while watching.

Back near the main entrance the focus is on jumping. There is a large grass stadium field, another of sand, a mirrored indoor schooling ring for flat work, with balconies for the audience, and an enormous open-air covered jumping arena for schooling and rainy days. A sand track surrounds the grass field:

The main jumping arena was hosting a schooling show the day I was there. The great pleasure is in being able to watch the competitors from the large restaurant pavilion, where the ever-popular Brazilian mega-buffet was offered.

The polo fields, no longer in use, have been converted to turnout paddocks.

The club offers lessons, clinics, and both schooling and pro-level shows throughout the year. Dressage and jumping are the focus, and the horses I saw were mostly warmbloods or sport horse crosses (for jumping) and pure or partbred Lusitanos (for dressage). Vaulting for children is also offered. Several times a year the facility also hosts breed shows or special events featuring other disciplines.

In typical Brazilian style, the club was both very full-service and fancy, but also very laid back and welcoming, with a cheerful, casual, family-friendly atmosphere.

The Pantaneiro Ventures Forth

Horse breeds in Brazil tend to be very regional. The Crioulo is found everywhere in Rio Grande do Sul, but rarely outside of that area. In the more populous and urban areas of São Paulo & Rio, the Mangalarga predominates, supplemented by the Lusitano (considered a show & sport horse, not a working horse) and smaller numbers of "luxury" horses like Brazilian Sport Horses, Arabians, and imported Quarter Horses.

The Pantaneiro is the regional breed from Mato Grosso, named for the vast Pantanal wetlands area that dominates that state. You can see some photos of the Pantaneiro in action at the breed association website.

According to the magazine Globo Rural ("Rural World", January 2009 issue - visit the link to see some great photos of the Pantaneiro horse, text in Portuguese), the Pantaneiro is undergoing a bit of a "rediscovery," and surge in popularity outside of its home range. Because the Pantanal region is bone dry for six months and submerged in water the other six months of the year, the horses there have adapted to being in mud and water for long periods of time without ill effect. Remarkably, they surviving on aquatic and submerged plants during the wet season, having figured out how to graze with their faces underwater. Many parts of the Pantanal are inaccessible during the flood season except by boat or horse, and the horses are indispensable for transportation and work.

The calm nature, intelligence, work ethic, hardiness and exceptionally durable legs (wet or dry!) of the Pantaneiro have helped it gain a foothold in roping and reining competitions in the region (cattle are raised in great numbers in Mato Grosso). Moreover it is particularly skilled at moving with agility in deep water and mud, and though small it is extremely strong. Formerly seen only as a working horse, they are now being purchased as competition horses and pleasure horses, resulting in higher prices, according to the Globo Rural article. The growth of rural tourism, including eco-tourism, has helped, too.

In terms of origins, the Pantaneiro shares a background with the Crioulo horse, and some overlap with the Mangalarga. It is predominantly of old Iberian descent, but there has been some Arab and Thoroughbred influence in the past, genetic analysis reveals.  The standard history suggests the horses originally migrated in feral herds up through Argentina and into the Pantanal area in the 1600s.  They  were then influenced by horses brought in (and sometimes lost or abandoned) by the Bandeirantes, (historic slave-hunters and gold-seekers who are thought of in modern times somewhat the way Americans think of famous outlaws or "Indian hunters"  from the "Wild West"). Ironically, then, the Pantaneiro has been celebrated as the steed of the indigenous Guaicuru people (detailed article in Portuguese here, for Portuguese speaking history buffs), who's skilled horsemanship & ferocity in battle were renowned, and captured by the French artist Jean-Baptiste Debret (example above, from WikiCommons).